"Sylvia's Mother", a 1972 single by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, was the group's first hit song. It was written by Shel Silverstein and produced by Ron Haffkine, and was highly successful in the United States, reaching number five on the Billboard singles chart (tied with "Sexy Eyes" from the album Sometimes You Win for the band's best performing song), as well as number two in the United Kingdom. It spent three weeks at number one on the Australian music charts, making it the 15th-ranked single in Australia for 1972; and also reached number one in South Africa, where it was the third-ranked song for the year, and in New Zealand. The song spent seven consecutive weeks at number one in Ireland on the Irish Singles Chart. It appeared on the group's first album, Doctor Hook.